Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Has Townhall dumped Navarrette?

Earlier, I discussed the reaction some commenters at Townhall had for Ruben Navarrette Jr.'s columns. Now, it seems that they have dumped Navarrette after a month. It's a good column - and his thoughts on immigration were thoughtful. It is a remarkable change from the venom and borderline bigotry of Tom Tancredo or the shrillness on the issue shown by Phyllis Schlafly and Michelle Malkin - niether of whom, it seems, could be bothered to take exception to Tancredo's comments about Miami.

If so, it is pretty much an invitation to folks like me to take a hike from the conservative movement. They're not interested in debate - they're interested in ranting and raving about the problem. Conservatives forced the GOP into an abdication of the repsonsbility they had when they had the majoity to solve the problem.

What's worse is that these folks are clearly a minority. In a couple of high-profile Republican primaries, niether hard-line candidate got over 50%. Chris Cannon beat the Tancredoite by a healthy 56-44 margin. Randy Graf only won because two moderates split the field. Both Graf and J.D. Hayworth lost their races. The hard line does not sell, yet it is still demanded. And those who demand it have the loudest voices on talk radio and the blogosphere.

Never mind the polling. Never mind the primary results. The purists have drawn their line. Thankfully, they will not be as well-situated to block the comprehensive reform. The bad news is that means the Democrats will get the credit - and the continued rants of Tancredo and others will do much to drive Hispanics to the Democratic party.

The hard-liners will then claim their predictions that immigrants will be voting for Democrats will be validated. None of their enablers in talk radio or the blogosphere will ever entertain the possibility that their own rhetoric - and their hard-line position - will have had anything to do with that. After all, they were standing on principle.

It's bullshit, but it is bullshit that has always gotten these folks a pass in the past.

1 comment:

The intellectual dishonesty on the Right, and the "free passes" and adulation being given to monstrous people is simply appalling. I've detached and am sitting back in a semi-shell shocked state, watching the train wreck in slo-mo. I catch only brief snippets here and there, on talk radio, FoxNews, and the blogs. It's like the Black Plague has hit. I can't believe I ever associated with this bunch of lunatics.

Hold your powder on Townhall, though. I am highly skeptical that Navarette has been dumped. That just doesn't make sense.